Any ideas on offering discounts to attract better tenants and are there any limits to types of discounts?
Is it illegal to offer discounts of say, like a $25.00 discount for people who have good credit, discount for having held the same job with the same employer for over a year, a discount for not having any criminal record, discount for being a non-smoker, having a positive non-family related rental history and maybe a commuters discount? I have property which I am just totally bewildered with! My offering of a really cheap rent only attracts those largely on disability who cant afford much more than the average cost of a weeks motel stay. My idea is to advertise it for say $575.00, but then to attract more applicants and perhaps higher quality type renters offer advertised discounts for having those good qualities that all landlords generally seek. If I recieve no feedback that appears negative my plan is to offer a Commuter discount, employment discount, good credit discount, rental history discount and maybe any others I think of which would result back to a highly competitive rent of $375 and $475 which I would hope gets me some long term tenants like those that I have in neighboring cities with much larger populations. My adverising will be kinda "guerilla tactic to attract the most attention by use of a mobile Bill Board towed on the back of a small boat trailer which I can park for short hourly intervals a few times a week at various street corners in the geographic area of the rental. It is a quadraplex and so if I got a full occupancy then all the effort will have ben worth the gamble.